Ecovative bringing new meaning to 'green house'

The innovative six-year-old business, known for creating packaging from mushrooms, started a new project which could be the beginning of Ecovative offering building materials for housing.

"We're the only company using these kinds of materials. There isn't anything like it," said spokesman Sam Harrington about the 12 foot long, 7 foot wide house being grown with mushroom roots, called mycelium, wood, and other green materials. The only non-environmentally friendly objects in the tiny house project include plastic for the electric wires and metal screws. "We've been avoiding plastics, where possible. This is a fun experiment where we can try out some of our more radical ideas."

In more ways than one, the endeavor is actually bringing the business back to its roots since its founders thought of the idea for Ecovative at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute while pondering better ways to insulate buildings.

"Commercializing materials is a daunting task," added Harrington.

The business has been focusing on their packaging, but, along with the materials inside the walls of the 40,000 square foot facility, Ecovative is growing. From a staff of under a dozen in 2009, the business now has 60 employees and has more than doubled its workspace over the past few years.

Their most recent development: A tiny house that they plan to unveil this summer made from materials they hope to eventually commercialize including rigid insulation, panels, and tiles. "It's a natural test platform," said Harrington, also referring to the tiny house movement of people building small living structures.

Their mushroom roots act like a natural adhesive on the wooden frame which adds to the structure's strength, he pointed out. They are growing the insulation in the walls now which require letting the materials grow in their new home for two days then adding more material. The walls are almost done and then a roof will be added. Harrington noted that they would not be going the "whole nine yards" to build a bathroom, but the house will have a kitchen, sleep space and living area.

"We're keen to use it as a meeting space. Though I'm pretty sure some of my co-workers wouldn't mind living there either," he said, as nearby co-workers nodded emphatically.

Depending on the response, the business may sell such tiny house kits for environmentally-friendly chicken coops, dog houses, and ice fishing shacks.

The mushroom tiny house, located inside their Cohoes Avenue facility, has been in the works since early April and they expect to finish sometime in June. Updates on their progress can be found on their blog: mushroomtinyhouse.com